Some community groups are campaigning for the police to crack down on electric bikes because the "battery-powered bikes, which can travel at higher speeds than most human-powered bikes, pose a hazard," according to an article by Sumathi Reddy in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Community Board 8 on the Upper East Side "recently passed a resolution forwarded to local legislators recommending that e-bikes be treated as automobiles, requiring them to be registered," the article said.

The article said that Charles Warren, co-chair of the board, said that "there's a general concern that people have about bicycles with delivery people riding on the sidewalk and going the wrong way and generally creating problems like that," adding that "the e-bikes, which we've seen more of certainly in our area, just add to that because they obviously go faster."

"A state bill introduced in the Assembly and Senate would do amend vehicle and traffics laws to classify electric-assisted bikes with a power output of no more than 1,000 watts and a maximum speed for 20 miles an hour as a bike. The bill overwhelmingly passed the Assembly; a Senate version is being amended, said a spokesman for the sponsor, Sen. Martin Malave Dilan," the article said.

"Under federal law, electric bikes fall under the same classification as regular bikes so long as they go no faster than 20 miles an hour and are powered by a motor with less than 750 watts. But the state's department of Motor Vehicles has concluded that the contraptions are neighbor motor vehicle or bike," the article continued.

"City police say the bikes are legal buy and ride on private property only....According to city code, anyone operating a motorized scooter - which, the spokeswoman said, includes electric bikes - is liable for a $500 civil penalty," the article said.